Cause of Death: |
Killed in action, in Operation Hurricane, gun shot wound. From Terence Murphy RhAF chopper pilot "I was flying a G-car in a Fire Force. 15 insurgents had been reported and we went to find them. They found me! We were circling a specific area while the Fire Force commanders sorted out a plan, and, as I flew over some rocks the aircraft came under intense small arms fire and was hit a number of times. At least we now knew where they were! Unfortunately a soldier of 1 Bn RAR sitting next to me was badly
wounded. We stripped him of his machine gun and ammunition, landed the remaining troops in the contact area, and sped off to the medical facility at base some minutes flying away. Alas, Private Emmanuel Chaka was found to be dead on arrival. The aircraft had sustained several hits and the engineers wanted to patch up the aircraft there and then, but, displaying a brave front not reflecting how I felt inside - we refueled and immediately went back to the action. I was glad to find it was just about over when I rejoined!" |
